Rumor has it that 2010 could be a crazy grasshopper year. I fished the Bighorn in the summer of 1986, when hoppers were absolutely everywhere. I caught more truly big fish on top there that summer than any other time since. If the predictions hold true, there will be a run on hopper patterns come July, but if you can tie, then you’re good to go no matter what. Below you’ll find an older, but still good, pattern: The Bow Legged Hopper (this fly caught the largest dry-fly brown I’ve had to hand in the Bighorn).

Rather than trying to re-type everything about this pattern, I have scanned the info straight out of GB’s 1991 book, Designing Trout Flies.

This post happens to be lengthy—from an on-screen perspective—due to the four rather large graphics involved. So, I’ll include the first two graphics here, but you’ll need to follow the “read the rest” link to get them all.

Congratulations! You’ve managed to reach the end of 400KB+ of tying illustrations. Happy hopper-tunities!

A note: Step 1 may be an issue, since it refers to a fly not shown here. Basically the instruction refers to a deer-hair underbody, over-wrapped with thread (in an open spiral). Leave the deer-hair tips sticking out the back to provide a “tail.” Hope that clarifies things a bit (and the drawings show what is happening, as well).